BILL NUMBER: SB 120	CHAPTERED  09/15/99

	CHAPTER   395
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   SEPTEMBER 15, 1999
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   SEPTEMBER 15, 1999
	PASSED THE SENATE   SEPTEMBER 1, 1999
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   AUGUST 30, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   AUGUST 26, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   JUNE 8, 1999

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Ortiz
   (Coauthor: Assembly Member Steinberg)

                        DECEMBER 18, 1998

   An act relating to hazardous substances.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 120, Ortiz.  Hazardous substances.
   Existing law authorizes the Department of Toxic Substances Control
to expend the money in the Toxic Substances Control Account in the
General Fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to pay for,
among other things, removal and remedial actions related to the
release of hazardous substances and the oversight of removal and
remedial actions.  Existing law authorizes the Attorney General to
recover from the liable person, as defined, the costs incurred and
payable from the account for removal or remedial actions to a
hazardous substance release.  Existing law requires a liable party
who establishes, by a preponderance of evidence, that only a portion
of those costs are attributable to that party's actions, to only pay
for that portion of those costs.
   This bill would prohibit the department from making any
determination that a response action at the Western Pacific Avenue
site in Sacramento is complete, until after the City of Sacramento
has completed its land use planning process and all response actions
necessary to conform to the approved land use plan are complete.  The
bill would exempt from this prohibition, any portion of the site
acquired by the Sacramento Regional Transit District, in accordance
with specified environmental documents.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  (a) For purposes of this section the following
definitions apply:
   (1) "City" means the City of Sacramento.
   (2) "Completion of the city's land use planning process" means the
adoption, after January 1, 1999, of a general plan amendment and
rezoning of the site pursuant to the city's land use process.
   (3) "Site" means the site at 3675 Western Pacific Avenue in
Sacramento, California, which is the subject of response action
approved and overseen by the Department of Toxic Substances Control
pursuant to Enforceable Agreement No. HSA 86/87-015EA issued by the
department on March 26, 1987.
   (b) (1) The Legislature finds and declares that the final remedial
action plan prepared and approved in 1995 pursuant to the
enforceable agreement for the site expressly recognizes that the city
is processing a change in the land use for the site, including a
general plan amendment and rezoning, and that the city's final land
use plan for the site may require that additional portions of the
site be remediated to unrestricted use levels beyond the area
indicated in the 1995 final remedial action plan.
   (2) The Legislature further finds and declares that a general
statute cannot be made applicable to the site, within the meaning of
subdivision (b) of Section 16 of Article IV of the California
Constitution, due to the unique circumstances at the site.  At this
site, the department has approved a remedial action plan specifying a
level of cleanup protective of human health and safety based on
current land use even though the department is aware that the local
government, the property owner, and the community all intend and plan
that the site will not remain in its current use but will ultimately
be put to a more intense use with more potential for human exposure
to any residual contamination.  The department specifically
acknowledges, in a memorandum dated June 30, 1998, that unique
circumstances are present at the site.
   (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Department of
Toxic Substances Control shall not make a determination that the
response action at the site is complete, including, but not limited
to, issuing a certification, a no further action letter, or a closure
letter, or entering into a settlement or release of liability, until
after the city has completed its land use planning process and all
response actions necessary to conform to the approved land use plan
are complete.
   (d) This section does not apply to any portion of the site
acquired by the Sacramento Regional Transit District in accordance
with the Draft and Final Subsequent Environmental Impact Report and
the Draft and Final Environmental Impact Statement for the South
Sacramento Corridor Light Rail Project, and all addenda and
supplements attached thereto.
